16 September 2013

The Bright Side Of The Street.

This is a personal rant. Move on if you, well, have a life.

Still here? OK. Since my surgery in May I walk in the evenings. Several miles (about 3.5 now) a night. And I live in one of those 1950's suburbs that decided sidewalks are obsolete, or cause crime or something, so walking and running in these parts is done in the street. Which brings up an interesting human / large-hunk-of-metal-hurtling-at-you dialogue. I know that, technically, pedestrians have the right of way, but even my fat arse has enough self-preservation skills to realize the right-of-way belongs to the distracted teenager in a Honda Civic. When it is still light out, this is all no big deal - you see each other at distance, both move out of the way, and wave politely as you pass (this is, after all, Baton Rouge).

But when it gets dark earlier, as it does nowadays, things get somewhat murkier. Even with my ample volume in light-colored clothes, I am hard to see after dusk. So it is not unusual to have someone flip on their brights for a few seconds to confirm my presence and to see that, yes, I have moved over to the grass side of the curb and out of their way. They will still veer left a bit to politely give a wide berth (this is, after all, Baton Rouge).

Until last night. An oncoming car - with those burn-thru-concrete, even-Ray-Charles-can-see-them, xenon/LED/laser headlights that German and Japanese car-makers love, obviously saw me, flipped on their brights, and then the inconsiderate bastard left them on as he/she/it approached. They only flipped them off once past me. I couldn't see shit. Well yes I could, metaphorically, because when they past I recognized the vehicle and it's occupants. It wasn't a surprise.

Why is this blog-worthy? Because, first, it's my blog and it annoyed me. Second, I want folks to realize those out walking / running at night are blinded when you put your hi-beams on them. It may help you, but we can't see the broken catch basin right in front of us. Please be considerate.